Are you woke?

I dislike the term ‘woke’ because it sounds pretentious. If a person describes themselves as woke, they appear to be virtue signalling; it’s the new form of one up manship.
I think I’m ‘woke’ in some areas of life, I believe in equal rights (who on earth doesn’t?) and tolerance, but on the other hand, I eat meat/poultry two or three times a week, I’m nowhere near being vegan, I love cheese and milk products far too much, and I wear leather shoes, carry leather handbags, and I love my cosy sheepskin slippers. Oh, and I wear wool.

Now I must read the rest the rest of the thread, I only read the first page before feeling compelled to contribute.

The noise earlier WAS tree cutting- so thats something else to mention,eh? We live in a semi-rural area,lots of trees bushes grass,very nice it is too,but recently the housing association have been coming round and removing bushes and lopping down trees,goodness knows why,theres nothing in their place,not even the much needed extra car parking spaces,(which would make more sense) so makes no sense whatsoever to destroy our greenery

See?'one-upmanship.knew i was right about the 'holier than thou' thing

Im off to compose email to housing association while weve some trees& bushes left

I knew you'd be trrouble this morning Doodledog, the minute you posted originally.theres always one

Sorry??

I didn't name names in my post, but quoted the relevant part of it. Is it the rule that we should always use names? If so I didn't know, and will try to remember to do so.

The comment that 'there is always one' referred to the fact that my niece is constantly expected to justify her lifestyle and diet, and it gets so very wearing, as she never asks others to justify theirs. That was all.

Of course we have the right to do as we wish within the law, and I thought my post would confirm that I completely agree with this - in fact it was the point of that post and my subsequent one. I used ' ' not to be offensive - as I say, I eat meat myself - but because it is at least debatable whether we have a right to eat other living things. It wasn't meant as a big deal, really, and I am sorry if it has upset you.

I am a bit upset to think that someone would see 'trouble' when they see my name on a post, however. I would like to know why this is the case, as I never set out to do that - I just join in conversations.

Looking at the ingredients and warnings, I'm not sure many true Vegans would actually use this - they'd look for something less harsh.

Lots of stuff is accidentally Vegan, and shops/manufacturers have cottoned on to the fact that it's trendy, so are labelling them as such because people will think they're taking pains to ensure their stuff is Vegan, when they're only doing it to make money out of the gullible.

merlotgran
Ditto
Or to use an amusing phrase I do like: "What she said said."

Guess its so you know there are no animal derived products in the item. Maybe a sofa looks like leather but is in fact not. In the past or possibly now lots of sweets had gelatin in the derived from pig fat. Nuts-once on a plane I was given a packet of nuts which did say’ contains nuts’ on it as a warning!

maddyone. I agree, and what a good expression, "virtue signalling". I might have said "judgemental"! I think sometimes people are. Judgemental, that is. I agree with those saying that there is no need to keep forcing one's virtuous beliefs under everyone's noses. Let common sense and tolerance prevail. So long as no person or animal is suffering then live and let live is my motto.

Maybe off the subject but I am campaigning for the abolition of non-stun slaughter. We used to lead the world in animal husbandry. Now we cannot even tell if meat products we buy come from animals who have been slaughtered in the inhumane way of not being stunned before slaughter. The government won't label the meat. I feel strongly about this and suppose I am "woke*" about this aspect of animal welfare. I have stopped eating meat because of it but that is no good to Farmers who give their animals good stress-free lives.
*Ugh! I hate the use of the word "woke" in this way. The grammar is all wrong anyway.

Labelling foodstuff properly does make life much easier for people who are allergic, vegan, vegetarian or practising Jews, Muslims or Hindus.

Those who object to the thought of animal products being used in clothes, shoes or cleaning agents probably appreciate being told what the things are made of too.

Strictly speaking a Jew or Muslim would not want any household product to contain pork, or a Hindu wish it to contain beef.

However, that said "vegan" to me is a word used only of food and those people who avoid all animal products in the food.
I too would stare if told that a handbag or a pair of shoes were vegan.

Lxrl, the Aldi regular, non vegan, make up remover wipes haven't been tested on animals either, so I'm still bemused as to what the difference is between them and the vegan ones. It's not rocket science at all, is it?

I grew up on a family aware of social injustices and who worked to make life better. People who care and try to help is nothing new. All this “woke” business is virtue signalling. The world has gone mad.

Calendargirl You are right - meatballs as a name is wrong. Here in Italy they are called polpettine "(small balls", but generic). However, I don't think you can call them that in English!

Doodledog You sound hurt and I'm very sad if you feel hurt. I have been helped a lot by your posts, especially in understanding the meaning of this new use of "woke". I do hope it will remain non judgemental, sadly I have heard it on TV used to show how virtuous a person thought herself and by imputation how wrong were the rest of us! But that is about that individual not the newly expressed idea.
I think the person saying she knew you would be trouble was joking! That is how i took it because there is a laughing emoji next to the comment. If I say to a friend that I knew they would be trouble it is an endearment, meant to imply how well I know them and that they would be very well informed and likely to point out where I was wrong - but in a friendly way.
Anyway, please do not feel upset - if you were - I for one, find your comments really interesting. ?

Thank you so much, Tillybelle. That was very kind of you, and it means a lot.

Yes...'woke' goes hand in hand with 'virtue signalling'.

Credit where it is due though. I have bought Astonish products for more than a decade and they have never been tested on animals and have always been vegan from when the company was set up.

This was way back before companies added 'vegan' and 'cruelty free' to their labels as a marketing ploy

Although there is undoubtedly a fair bit of jumping on the vegan bandwagon going on at the moment, it is surely an advantage to have products clearly labelled so that those of us who wish to avoid animal derivatives in our cosmetics, cleaning products or whatever, are able to see it clearly labelled instead of having to peer at the mass of ingredients? I do think it is funny though when a product is labelled 'cruelty free'....does this mean that the rest of the range comes with 'added cruelty'? Surely we should be able to assume this anyway? Or am I being too 'woke'?

I answered a Facebook post for cups and saucers for somebody who was starting catering. I offered a bone china set and was politely refused because vegans won’t use ‘bone’ china.

I believe that this product range being described as vegan refers not only to its ingredients, but also that none are tested on animals.

Vegans, according to the Vegetarian Society website, number 1.16 of the population. Considering the noise they make in the public sphere that's a very small hair on a tail trying to wag a very large dog.

1.16 per cent.

I think, no I know, I'm not 'woke' as I'm pretty far along the scale towards the right!

On the other hand, I'm almost vegetarian and care very much about animal welfare and their habitats.

My first thought was "Yes, I am. The alarm went off at 7pm this morning and I'm out of bed, dressed and typing...."
then I read the thread.

No I don't think I am, and I think Im quite happy not to be so labelled. Seems a bit pretentious to me.